The automobile made Genesee Mountain a major stop on the emerging ski jumping circuit of the 1920s. Although there was no Interstate highway to whisk skiers to Genesee Mountain in the 1920’s, weekend skiers could navigate a harrowing drive on Lookout Mountain Road to get to the site. Photographs show hundreds of cars parked in the meadow now traversed by I-70.
Situated on the north-facing slopes of Genesee Mountain, the Genesee Park ski jumping area was the site of national ski jumping competitions from 1921 to 1927. As many as four jumps are reported to have been built on the mountain. The longest jump was reported to be 2,000 feet long with a vertical drop of 700 feet. Often, snow was trucked in from higher elevations for the competitions, forming a thin white ribbon for the jumpers to land upon.
Although jumping was the only form of competitive skiing in the 1920’s, the sport of Alpine skiing first blossomed during this era. European instructors from the Arlberg Club taught Telemark and Christiana turns to Denver-area skiers. The Denver Post even ran a feature article in 1929 about a club of Denver socialites and winter sports enthusiasts who spent weekends on the north slopes of Genesee, gliding through the glades while executing these exotic ski techniques.
Poor snow conditions eventually doomed the ski hill in the 1930’s. The crowds dwindled as skiers migrated westward to Steamboat Springs and Estes Park. There was a brief revival in the mid-1950s when the University of Denver hosted annual college meets at the hill. The last was held in 1956 and the ski jumping site was soon overtaken by development, when I-70 was punched through Mount Vernon Canyon in the 1960’s.
These days the condominiums crowd the lower portion of the main jumping areas. The cache is located on Denver Mountain parkland at a vantage point where at least two of the jump “cuts” can be seen. The largest is about ¼-mile to the east, above the Chimney Creek condos. Please visit the Genesee Ski Jump web page (use the "related web page" link at top) for a longer description and historic photos of the site.